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Easy Pesto Pasta Salad with Olives and Roasted Red Peppers

This Easy Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe with Olives and Roasted Red Peppers uses pantry ingredients you probably keep in the house, and this delicious salad is meatless and could be South Beach Diet Phase Two with the right pasta. Use the Recipes-by-Diet-Type Index to find more recipes like this one.

There are recipes where you carefully purchase special ingredients in anticipation of the dish, and then there are recipes where you have something in the fridge, and you stare into the pantry thinking, "What can I make with this?"

It was the Basil Pesto with Lemon that inspired this uber-simple Easy Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe with Olives and Roasted Red Peppers. I used canned olives and roasted red pepper from a jar to round out the salad, but there are lots of other possibilities that would taste good here (check after the recipe for other ideas.) Actually pasta salad with pesto dressing is just a version of pasta with pesto, so how can this not be good?

If you're someone who reads this blog because you're following the South Beach Diet, you may be wondering how pasta salad can be diet-friendly. I used Dreamfields Rotini, but you could use whole wheat pasta as well.

Then make your salad South Beach friendly by using a fair amount of low-glycemic ingredients in proportion to the amount of pasta. I used a whole can of olives, cut in half.

Plus a 12 oz. jar of roasted red peppers, diced into small pieces.

I combined the olives and red bell peppers with only 12 oz. Dreamfields Rotini, cooked exactly 9 minutes, then drained and cooled for 10 minutes before combining with the other salad ingredients.

After the pasta cools for 10 minutes, stir in enough dressing to coat the slightly-warm pasta. (You may not need all the dressing, but save the rest in case you want to add it later.)

Combine the pasta with dressing, diced red bell pepper, and olives.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid, and chill in the fridge 1-3 hours. To serve, mix in 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or more!) and a little more dressing if the salad seems dry. Serve slightly chilled or at or room temperature.

Ingredients:
12 oz. Dreamfields or whole wheat Rotini pasta
1 can black olives, drained well, then cut in half
12 oz. jar roasted red bell pepper, drained well and diced
1/3 cup vinaigrette dressing (I used Newman's Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing, but use any vinaigrette with less than 3 grams of sugar per serving for South Beach Diet)
1/3 cup pesto (I used Basil Pesto with Lemon, but you can use purchased basil pesto as well)
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:
Fill a medium-sized pot half full of water, add a generous amount of salt and bring to a boil. Add pasta, and cook 9 minutes (or check package for cooking time if you're using whole wheat pasta.) Drain pasta well, and let cool for 10 minutes while you prep other ingredients.

Pour olives into a colander, drain well, then cut olives in half. Pour red bell peppers into colander, drain well, and dice into small pieces.

Combine vinaigrette dressing and pesto, whisking together.

When pasta is cool, stir in enough dressing to coat the pasta. (You may not need all the dressing, but save it to add if needed after the salad has chilled.) Add olives and roasted red pepper, and stir gently to combine. Cover salad with plastic wrap or a lid, and refrigerate for 1-3 hours.

To serve, remove salad from refrigerator and stir in 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more dressing if needed to moisten salad. Serve slightly chilled or at room temperature.

Other things you could use in this salad:
-diced marinated artichoke hearts
-marinated mushrooms, cut in half
-cooked turkey Italian sausage, cut into small pieces
-turkey pepperoni, chopped
-grilled vegetables of any type such as zucchini, mushrooms, onions, or summer squash
-cubed fresh mozzarella cheese

This type of salad can probably never be low carb unless you used zucchini noodles to replace the pasta and actually I think that could be pretty good. Be sure to follow the suggestions in the recipe for types of pasta, types of dressing, and use of low-glycemic ingredients if you're making this salad for the South Beach Diet. With those cautions, the salad would be approved for phase 2 or 3 of the diet.

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What a great looking, appetizing dish, Kalyn! Those olives look blue black in the photos and so appealing. Another reason to make some pesto! :-) I have just the right amount of gluten-free pasta on hand, too.

What I love about this recipe is that almost everything in it is always in my pantry, including basil in the freezer. I love the Dreamfields rotini and use it for many hot and cold pasta dishes. It tastes just like pasta that has all of its carbs, and it's not the least bit mushy or overly chewy like some whole wheat pasta can be. I learned about Dreamfields on your blog and I've been using it ever since.

TW, not every store here has it, but I can find it at several of our major grocery stores. For some reason I haven't been able to find the macaroni lately though, so I just ordered a case of it from Amazon.com!

Pearl, me too!

Shirley, thanks. Glad you have a gluten-free pasta that will work.

Joanne, I think tomatoes would taste good, but I'd add them after you chill the salad.

Lydia, so glad I could introduce you to Dreamfields. I think it's just fantastic!

Looks so good! Thanks for the tip about Dreamfields. I had not tried it until I read about it on your site a couple of months ago. I've used it a number of times with great results, and I've snuck it to some people who never realized they were eating something low-carb. ;-)

I love anything with olives! I am so glad you included a link back to the pesto. Our son has egg allergies and I wonder if it would taste okay to eliminate it? I would love to try this and it looks awesome - will use my favorite whole grain pasta called Kamut! Thanks :)

Smilinggreenmom, not sure what you mean? (The pesto doesn't have any eggs?) If you meant to say nut allergies, you could definitely leave out the pine nuts and it would still be good. I might use a bit more cheese.

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